Hello!
The sun seems to be FINALLY shining here in the UK - at long last! My husband and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on Wednesday - we went for a gorgeous sunny walk somewhere new just outside of Manchester which felt like a good adventure!
And then it was the summer solstice on Thursday evening, which marked the longest day of the year and the start of summer. If you’ve been familiar with my work for a little while, you’ll know that I’m a big believer in following our seasonal cycles as a way of supporting how we live and work.
This ‘peak’ of the year is traditionally a time of appreciating the abundance in our lives and reaping the rewards of the seeds we might have planted earlier on in the year (literally and metaphorically) and more outward, social energy. It’s a time for having gratitude for what’s blooming in our lives.
The idea that we’re half way through the year always seems to put things into perspective - the days move into weeks, months and even years much quicker than I ever fully acknowledge - and it’s up to me to decide how I live those days, months and weeks.
And so the solstice is the perfect time to reflect and redefine your priorities for the second half of the year. It’s time to reflect on where you are now and how that’s working out. Are you living a life that’s in line with your values - personally and professionally?
I’ve shared some of my reflections below, and you can download my summer solstice journalling worksheet here
For me, there’s been lots to appreciate in this first half of the year:
I’ve spent more quality time with family than usual, which has been really nice.
I was lucky to have really brilliant holiday to Sri Lanka which I’m so grateful for, which came at the perfect time.
Coaching-wise I’ve had the pleasure of working with some really brilliant clients and am really proud of my Shine Bright 1-1 coaching programme and seeing my clients have brilliant outcomes with this - it feels like the culmination of all my experience and studying to date.
I’ve been especially grateful for recommendations from previous clients and people in my network as this has really helped to sustain and grow my business over the past few months and I’m so grateful for this - as well as proud of myself for slowly building a business that allows me to do work that really fulfils me and enables me to make a difference to the lives of others that is aligned with who I am - which is something that just wasn’t possible for me after burning out working full time in the NHS.
I’ve kept up strength training twice a week (for 18 months now (my longest ever gym/strength training relationship!) and am feeling stronger than ever
I’ve received a great deal of support from others - both from personal friendships and professional connections
What am I letting go of?
This past 6 months has been challenging for me for various reasons, including going through a long and drawn out organisational restructure and redundancy process in my one-day-a-week GP in women’s health role.
This took up a lot more emotional energy than I expected and left me with a lot of uncertainty. I had a lot of decisions that I needed to make - would I replace this role with something similar? Something different but still medical? Or more coaching work? I couldn’t work it out and was going round in circles in my head.
(Even though this is what I’m good at helping other people to do, it still feels hard to do on my own at times - and is why like lots of coaches, I continue to have coaching myself when I need to - because it gives me so much clarity and saves so much time and headspace!)
I’ve never been made redundant before this, but it felt like there were a lot of parallels with my personal experiences of navigating burnout, when I felt really stuck in the work-work-work mentality even though it was affecting my health and my relationships. I found myself at times falling into a bit of a victim mindset, which took away my sense of power and agency.
One of the things that really helped me back then was the idea that I get to choose - I’m in control of how I move forward, I get to choose what I do next, I get to make choices about how I take care of myself - and that has been really helping me to hold myself steady following the redundancy as well.
So I’ve recently chosen to let go of the stuckness around what’s next and instead am choosing to lean into the energy of ‘I get to choose’
What am I embracing over the next few months?
I want to embrace the dance between being more radical in my prioritisation and boundaries - trusting myself to say no to things that don’t feel 100% aligned - not just with my values but also with my capacity right now - AND to lean into growth and opportunities to stretch myself - it’s definitely a fine balance.
And I also want to embrace more time for joy in the everyday - this is what summer is about for me - and rather than being frivolous, for me embracing joy is a way of choosing to honour my own needs and wellbeing in a world that often asks us to ignore these in favour of productivity and external expectations.
I’d love to hear about your reflections and what you’re embracing as we move into summer - reply in the comments below or feel free to message me directly.
Love, Rachael x
PS. I’ve got 2 spaces for a July start for my 3 month Shine Bright 1-1 Coaching programme.
This is for you if :
You want to stop yourself letting your work taking priority over your health, your relationships and your happiness - so you can protect your wellbeing and avoid burnout before it’s too late - and without giving up the career you’ve worked so hard for. Find out more here or complete the enquiry form and we can arrange a time to have a chat.
Did you miss The Career Wellbeing Scorecard ? It’s a short quiz that gives you a snapshot of your overall work and personal wellbeing.
It takes 3 minutes (or just under) and you will also get sent a link to a workbook afterwards that helps you to understand how to nurture and grow your score.
I would LOVE you to try it out - and please DO let me know what you discover!